Why did this take so long? There's an all-singing, all-dancing Ayn Rand off-Broadway production coming to New York in May. The Anthem is inspired by Rand's novella "Anthem," set in a world where individuality is illegal. Including the cowboy from the Village People!

The Anthem starts performances on May 20 at the Lynn Redgrave Theater, with the show officially opening on May 29. And according to Theatermania, the play features "a book by Gary Morgenstein, music by Jonnie Rockwell, and lyrics by Erik Ransom. Rachel Klein helms a cast that stars Jason Gotay (Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark), Remy Zaken (Spring Awakening), and Randy Jones (The Village People)."

"Anthem" was also adapted into a non-musical stage play last fall, adapted for the stage by Jeff Britting, a composer and curator of the Ayn Rand Archives. And the press release for that play includes a pretty good synopsis of Rand's story:

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Anthem is the story of a young man, EQUALITY 7-2521, who is born into a future world that has banished all individuality. Not satisfied with a world lighted by candles, EQUALITY fosters his love of discovery in an abandoned subway, a relic of the past. In solitude, EQUALITY rediscovers electricity and a new source of light. Above ground he meets and falls in love with LIBERTY 5-3000, committing a further "sin of preference."

I love that these people have names like old-school phone numbers. Makes you want to grab a rotary phone and shout "Get me Liberty 5-3000!".